The High Court in Accra has sentenced Richard Appiah, a footballer and draughtsman convicted of murdering two teenagers in Abesim in the Bono Region, to life imprisonment.
The sentence followed a unanimous guilty verdict delivered by a seven-member jury on two counts of murder. The victims, aged 12 and 15, were killed in 2021 in a case that sparked nationwide outrage and shocked residents of the Abesim community.
Appiah, who was 28 years old at the time of the crime, had been on trial since 2022. The trial was presided over by Justice Ruby Aryeetey at the High Court in Accra.
The case first gained public attention in August 2021 when police in Abesim, near Sunyani, arrested Appiah after discovering the bodies of two boys inside his home. Authorities also reportedly found some body parts stored in a refrigerator within his living quarters, triggering widespread public horror and condemnation across the country.
Police investigations indicated that Appiah allegedly murdered at least two boys, identified in earlier reports as 12-year-old Louis Agyemang, believed to be his stepbrother, and 15-year-old Stephen Sarpong, the son of a family friend.
At the time of his arrest, some media reports described Appiah as a footballer and sports commentator, while various professional affiliations were initially reported. However, the Ghana Institute of Architects later clarified that he was not a registered architect, contrary to earlier media publications.
During his detention, reports emerged that Appiah reportedly requested specific meals and exhibited unusual behavioural patterns, prompting investigators to seek psychiatric evaluation as part of the case proceedings.
The trial experienced several procedural delays, including adjournments caused by the absence of jurors on some court sitting days. Despite these challenges, the prosecution presented evidence linking Appiah to the killings.
After reviewing the evidence and hearing arguments from both sides, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on the two murder charges. In sentencing, Justice Aryeetey imposed a life imprisonment term, citing the extreme brutality and gravity of the crimes.
